Has Washington Gone Crazy?

After three months, the Democrats still refuse to accept the result of November’s election–an idea they denounced when they thought they were going to win. Now, as Byron York notes, many Democrats are scheming to remove President Trump from office. How to do it, though, is a knotty problem.

They could impeach him, only the Republicans control the House. Speaker Ryan hasn’t scheduled any impeachment hearings, last I knew. And no one has plausibly suggested what high crimes or misdemeanors Trump has committed in the last month. Then, too, for Trump to be removed from office, 67 Senators would have to vote for removal, and the Democrats only have 48 senators.

So talk has shifted to the 25th Amendment, which provides procedures for temporary or permanent replacement of a president who becomes disabled. Specifically, Democrat Congressmen like Jackie Speier and Earl Blumenauer are focusing on Section 4 of the amendment, which says that if the vice president and a majority of the cabinet transmit a written declaration that the president is unable to discharge the duties of his office, the vice president becomes the acting president.

The idea that Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of Trump’s cabinet will declare Donald Trump unable to perform the duties of the presidency is, of course, insane. It is rather ironic that the 25th Amendment schemers, not Donald Trump, are the ones who display signs of being disconnected from reality.

Meanwhile, what is the evidence that Trump can’t discharge the duties of his office? There is none, obviously. If the Rasmussen survey is believed, 55% of likely voters think he is not only performing his duties, but performing them well–a much higher approval rating than Congressional Democrats’. Congresswoman Speier struggles to explain why she thinks Trump is somehow disabled:

“Do you believe he is incapacitated?” asked anchor Brianna Keilar.

“Well, I think that we have got to be very careful,” Speier said. “He needs to start acting presidential. He needs to start recognizing that as president you don’t go around and shoot down the media, as if it’s some kind of a game you’re playing. You don’t take on people saying nasty things about them. You don’t take foreign leaders and hang up the phone with them or besmirch them, as he has with some of the European leaders. I mean, he has got to get a grip.”

I think it is Ms.Speier and many of her fellow Democrats who need to get a grip.

The remarkable fact, however, is that it isn’t only frustrated Democrats who are making noises about the 25th Amendment. David Frum and Jennifer Rubin, both of whom are conservatives of a certain stripe but also fervent Never Trumpers, as well as David Brooks, who is no kind of conservative, have similarly made noises about using the 25th Amendment to remove our president from office.

That is why I titled this post “Has Washington Gone Crazy?” rather than “Have the Democrats Gone Crazy?” The atmosphere in Washington has become so bizarre that members of both parties (to be fair, mostly Democrats) have gone off the deep end. They need to get out more. President Trump is doing an excellent job so far, and at this point, he is a good bet to be re-elected. Democrats can keep up the crazy, but Republicans should relax and enjoy the show.